Joe Rock

Song Writer and Manager of the Skyliners and The Jaggerz

Joe Rock
was a hit song writer and a manager for several artists. Joe put the Skyliners
together after he heard Beaumont sing with another group at a record hop in
Mount Washington.Managing the Skyliners
at age 21 he landed them a record deal, after 13 rejections, with Calico
Records and got them on Dick Clark's American Bandstand.He wrote the lyrics to the Skyliners' smash
hits "Since I Don't Have You." and "This I Swear". In 1959
"Since I Don't Have You" hit No. 12 on the U.S. charts and "This
I Swear," climbed to No. 24.Joe
also co-wrote "I'd Die," "It Happened Today," "Lonely
Way," "How Much," and "You're My Christmas Present" with
Jimmy Beaumont and the Skyliners.

Joe wrote
the lyrics to "Since I Don't Have You" the day after a woman he was
dating broke his heart telling she leaving Pittsburgh to attend airline school
in Tulsa, Okla. "Since I Don't Have You," has been covered by a
diverse list of artists that includes Chuck Jackson, Johnny Mathis, Guns N' Roses,
Art Garfunkel, Ronnie Milsap, Eddie Holman, the Brian Setzer Orchestra, Jay and
the Americans, Patti Labelle, New Edition, Don McLean, Frankie Valli and the
Four Seasons, Gloria Loring, and Barbra Streisand. The ballad rose No. 23 in 1981
for Don McLean.

Joe managed
other groups.He landed a deal on Stax
records for singer Johnny Day.Kama
Sutra signed the Jaggerz who scored a number 2 hit with "The Rapper".

Rock wrote
songs for other artists also.He wrote
the song "Lorraine" recorded by Joey Dee and co-wrote "I've Got
Dreams to Remember" with Otis Redding.Joe and Otis Redding were together the night before Otis died in a plane
crash.

Moving on
the country music, Joe spent his final seven years writing music in Nashville
where died in 2000 at the age of 63.